With Hinrich out, Robinson fills gap

Guard excels with 24 points and 13 assists to lead Bulls over Bucks 100-94

October 16, 2012|By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter

Nate Robinson's Tuesday began with him dissing his own play as a letdown and ended with him soaring often as he displayed his airplane takeoff routine in celebratory fashion.

Robinson had struggled in the Bulls' first three exhibitions, but he took advantage when Kirk Hinrich sat Tuesday night with a sore right thumb to play a stellar game.

Starting and logging close to 37 minutes in the Bulls' 100-94 victory over the Bucks, Robinson finished with 24 points and 13 assists. Style points in the form of a long, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first quarter and an alley-oop off the backboard for a Jimmy Butler dunk were extra.

"I don't think I've been playing to my best abilities," Robinson said. "I feel like I'm letting people down. But I'm going to keep playing hard. Coach believes in us more than we believe in ourselves and that's a great trait to have in a coach.

"I just play basketball. My first natural ability is to score and bring energy. That's something I've done throughout my career. I'm just a team player. I do whatever it takes for us to win."

The Bulls did that thanks to Robinson's night, efficient shooting from Richard Hamilton, who returned from a one-game rest to score 23 points with 16 points and 12 rebounds from Joakim Noah.

Robinson found Hamilton curling off screens often as Hamilton continued his strong preseason. Robinson had no turnovers after committing 10 in the first three exhibitions.

"What we're looking for him to do is to be more consistent," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "His energy is both offensive and defensive, but he has to play both sides of the ball. He played under control."

Though it didn't materialize much Tuesday, Thibodeau hinted a rotation change might be coming. Luol Deng, the stabilizing force for the effective Bench Mob of the past two seasons, could return to his bridge role of starting and playing several minutes with four reserves before taking his first rest.

Previously, Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Nazr Mohammed had struggled as a unit despite strong play from Mohammed and flashes from Gibson.

"I want to get a look at Lu with the second unit," Thibodeau said. "A big part of our second unit was Luol. When that group has Luol in it they will function a lot better."

Hinrich said his injury isn't serious.

Layups: The Bucks offered slightly more money during last summer's free agency, but Hinrich opted for the Bulls. "I understood," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "He was going to be able to come here and start while Derrick (Rose) is out. Who knows? Maybe he'll continue to start when Derrick comes back. Maybe they'll start together. This is a place he's comfortable with. He has a home here. We were battling some odds; that's for sure. We had some good talks and we felt like we could use him, but I understood." … Kyrylo Fesenko didn't attend because of illness. … Derrick Rose created a pregame stir when TV cameras showed him hoisting jumpers, but he has been shooting for six weeks.